Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia.
Department of Biology, Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Chemosphere. 2022 May;294:133781. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133781. Epub 2022 Jan 29.
The widespread use of methylparaben as a preservative has caused increased exposure to natural aquatic systems in recent decades. However, current studies have suggested that exposure to this compound can result in endocrine disrupting effects, raising much concern regarding its environmental impact. In contast, methylparaben has also been found to be part of the metabolome of some organisms, prompting the question as to whether this compound may be more natural than previously assumed. Through a combination of field studies investigating the natural presence of methylparaben across different taxa, and a 54-day microcosm experiment examining the bioaccumulation and movement of methylparaben across different life stages of aquatic insects (order Trichoptera), our results offer evidence suggesting the natural origin of methylparaben in aquatic and terrestrial biota. This study improves our understanding of the role and impact this compound has on biota and challenges the current paradigm that methylparaben is exclusively a harmful anthropogenic contaminant. Our findings highlight the need for further research on this topic to fully understand the origin and role of parabens in the environment which will allow for a comprehensive understanding of the extent of environmental contamination and result in a representative assessment of the environmental risk that may pose.
作为一种防腐剂，对羟基苯甲酸甲酯在最近几十年中的广泛使用导致其在自然水生系统中的暴露量不断增加。然而，目前的研究表明，这种化合物的暴露可能会导致内分泌干扰效应，引起人们对其环境影响的极大关注。相比之下，对羟基苯甲酸甲酯也被发现是一些生物体代谢组的一部分，这促使人们提出这样一个问题：这种化合物是否比之前认为的更自然。通过结合研究不同分类群中对羟基苯甲酸甲酯自然存在情况的野外研究，以及一项为期 54 天的微宇宙实验，研究了对羟基苯甲酸甲酯在水生昆虫（鳞翅目）不同生命阶段的生物累积和迁移情况，我们的研究结果提供了证据，表明对羟基苯甲酸甲酯在水生和陆地生物群中具有天然来源。这项研究提高了我们对该化合物在生物群中的作用和影响的认识，并挑战了当前的观点，即对羟基苯甲酸甲酯完全是一种有害的人为污染物。我们的研究结果强调需要进一步研究这一主题，以充分了解环境中对羟基苯甲酸酯的来源和作用，从而全面了解环境污染的程度，并对可能构成的环境风险进行有代表性的评估。
